Georgetown students spend a lot of time being serious. They balance demanding class schedules, stay at Lauinger Library until the early morning hours and push themselves to prepare for future careers with internships and far-reaching job searches.

An event Friday night will allow Hoyas to show off their humorous sides.

The DC’s Funniest competition, sponsored by the Georgetown Program Board, brings together 10 students who will perform five minute, original, stand-up comedy routines for a live audience in the Leavey Center’s Bulldog Alley. After their performances, D.C. comedian Jeff Maurer will score each routine and the highest scoring comic will be declared Georgetown’s funniest student.

The winner will walk away not just with bragging rights, but with the opportunity to put his skills to the test on a larger scale. Georgetown’s winner will compete in a District-wide competition against students from other universities. The winner of the competition will ultimately be declared “DC’s Funniest College Student.”

Other universities that will send a contestant to the District competition include the University of Maryland at College Park, George Mason University and The George Washington University, according to the DC’s Funniest College Student website.

If a Georgetown student were to win the District competition, he would land a paid position hosting at the DC Improv club and be interviewed by 94.7 FRESH FM radio personality Tommy McFly, Rosaline Ruiz (SFS ’13), a Program Board member who has been involved in the planning of the event, said in an email.

Ruiz said that the Program Board has enjoyed organizing a competition at Georgetown in the past and was eager to be involved again this year. “This is an event that is somewhat of a tradition. Although it was not done last year we decided to get on the ball and make sure we were a part of it. The main motivation is that we thought this is an event that has been of interest to many students in the past and it would be free for everyone, which is part of our mission, to provide low-cost events,” she said.

The curtain will rise on the Hilltop’s aspiring comics this Friday night at 8 p.m. Comedian Mike Way will host the show and perform briefly before the students begin their routines. As scores are tallied, Jeff Maurer will perform, and the winner will be announced immediately after that.

Regardless of who walks home with the title of Georgetown’s funniest student, the event will offer attendees a chance to laugh away the stress of long nights in the library. “In terms of the material they perform, it can be about anything they want as long as they believe they are achieving the goal, which is to be funny!” Ruiz said.